Dish’s Sling TV Drops Price of One-Day Streaming Pass to $1 to ‘Celebrate’ Win in Disney Lawsuit

Dish Network slashed the price of its 24-hour Sling TV Day Pass through the end of the month, coming after a federal judge ruled in the pay-TV provider’s favor in a lawsuit filed by Disney seeking to block the short-term streaming plans. To “celebrate” the legal ruling, Dish announced Wednesday that Sling TV is offering $1 Day Passes (regularly $4. 99) from now until Nov. 30 for new and returning customers. Day Pass subscriptions include live and on-demand streaming access to networks on the Sling Orange tier including ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, A&E, TBS, Disney Channel, Comedy Central, History Channel and CNN. The Day Pass provides 24 hours of instant access to live sports, entertainment and news with no long-term commitment required. “The court’s decision is a win for consumers and a validation of what Sling stands for,” Seth Van Sickel, SVP of Sling TV, said in a statement. “For too long, traditional ‘big media’ companies have intentionally stifled innovation and forced customers to pay for more content than they want or need. We believe customers deserve the flexibility to stream the content they want, whenever they want it, at a price they can afford. Consumers deserve affordable TV, not bound by long-term contracts or bloated offerings. The $1 Day Pass is our way of saying thank you to the customers we fight for every day.” In August, Disney sued Dish over the Sling Passes (which include day, weekend and one-week plans), alleging they violated the terms of the companies’ carriage deal. Warner Bros. Discovery separately also sued Dish over Sling’s Pass offerings, similarly alleging breach of contract. In a Nov. 17 ruling in the case (ESPN Enterprises et al. v. Dish Network LLC), U. S. District Court Judge Arun Subramanian of the Southern District of New York denied Disney’s request for a preliminary injunction to block Sling’s Passes. The judge found that Disney had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits in its breach-of-contract claims, nor did the company show that it would suffer irreparable harm. He also ruled Disney didn’t show that a preliminary injunction here “is in the public interest or that the balance of equities favors an injunction.” Per the judge’s ruling, Disney’s distribution contract with Dish does not define a minimum subscription length and the definition of a “subscriber” includes anyone authorized to receive “any level of video programming service or package of programming networks,” even including free-service users regardless of whether they are charged a fee or have an account. “That broad definition clearly covers users of the Passes at issue in this case,” Subramanian wrote in the ruling. Disney argued that Sling TV’s Passes will cause it to suffer harm to its relationships with other distributors, business model, value and brand, and the ESPN Unlimited direct-to-consumer streaming service, and infringes its right to exclude “unauthorized distribution” of its networks. “But Disney fails to show that those alleged harms aren’t speculative,” Subramanian ruled. A Disney rep said in a statement, “While we were unable to obtain preliminary relief to stop Dish/Sling’s sales of Day Pass, Weekend Pass and Week Pass, we look forward to vindicating our position at trial where all the facts and evidence will be presented.”.
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/sling-tv-drops-price-day-pass-one-dollar-disney-lawsuit-1236585572/